Statement by David Doniger, policy director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on the Meeting of Major Economies on Energy Security and Climate Change

“Today, the Bush administration opened a two-day meeting with 17 countries that are responsible for 80 percent of the world's global warming pollution. Sadly, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton offered no hint of any change in the administration’s ineffective, voluntary, bake-sale approach to the global warming challenge.

“Beneath pat phrases about 'taking climate change very seriously,' Rice and Connaughton continue to reject any mandatory limit on American emissions, whether enacted by Congress or negotiated with other countries. They are rejecting the one step that would effectively cut emissions and trigger the energy technology revolution they say they want.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.